Before Christmas I love sitting down with my mom's book of
hand written recipes to decide which ones I'll be making.
Every year without fail I make these butter tarts.
Each pretty pastry shell is filled with golden raisins
and topped with brown sugar buttery goodness.
Ingredients for filling:
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup golden raisins, plumped
Method:
- Beat very soft butter, brown sugar and egg together until creamy.
- Add salt and vanilla.
- Pour boiling water over raisins. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Drain well.
- Do not add to filling. Once you have the pastry shells made, place raisins into each shell. This will keep them uniform.
Pastry: this is Lovella's favorite pastry recipe that came from our friend Dorothy, but you can use your favourite pastry recipe.
- 5 cups flour
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pound lard
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- water
Method for Pastry:
- Measure flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.
- Cut in cold lard until you lard is broken up into pea sized pieces.
- In a glass measuring cup beat 1 egg well. Add vinegar and then enough cold water to make 1 cup.
- Pour water mixture over flour mixture and stir, incorporating all the dry ingredients. Use your hands to pull the dough together into a ball.
- Sprinkle some flour on your counter or pastry mat. Roll out 1/3 of the dough fairly thin. Using a cup or fluted cookie cutter, but out rounds and place into lightly greased tart tins.
- To ensure that each tart gets the approximately the same amount of raisins, I spoon the raisins into the bottom of each unbaked shell. (About 5-8 raisins, depending on the size of your shells.
- Pour the butter tart filling over each raisin filled shell.
- Bake at 375ยบ for 18-20 minutes. Let rest in pan for 5 minutes then remove to cooling rack.
This filling recipe makes 2 dozen tarts. I often double or triple the recipe as they freeze well for several months. You will have left over pastry. Shape into discs or line a pie plate or two. Wrap well and freeze.
